Apparatus for guiding and loading a weighting roll on spinning machines

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for guiding and loading a weighting roll at spinning machines comprising two rolls forming a nip for the fiber material and defining a material transporting plane. At least one of these rolls is a weighting roll vertically movable with respect to the material transport plane. According to the invention a support for the weighting roll is anchored directly or indirectly at the machine frame via two rigidly clamped flat springs arranged parallel or substantially parallel to the material transport plane, the springs possessing the same or substantially the same length.

States Patent [191 [451 Mar. 12, 1974 APPARATUS FOR GUIDING AND LOADINGA WEIGHTING ROLL ON SPINNING MACHINES [75] Inventor: Werner Naegeli,Winterthur,

Switzerland [73] Assignee: 'Pavena AG, Basel, Switzerland [22] Filed:Apr. 24, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 246,859

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 7, 1971 Switzerland 6735/71[52] US. Cl. 19/282, 19/295 [51] Int. Cl D0lh 5/50 [58] Field of Search19/267, 266, 272, 279-282, 19/295 [56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 829,829 3/!960 Great Britain 19/282 April 30, 19643/1960 Great Britain 19/279 2/1961 Great Britain 19/282 OTHERPUBLICATIONS Schubert, German Application 1,169,342 Printed PrimaryExaminer-Dorsey Newton Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wemer W. Kleeman [57]ABSTRACT An apparatus for guiding and loading a weighting roll atspinning machines comprising two rolls forming a nip for thefibermaterial and defining a material transporting plane. At least one ofthese rolls is a weighting i roll vertically movable with respect to thematerial transport plane. According to the invention a support for theweighting roll is anchored directly or indirectly at the machine "framevia two rigidly clamped flat springs arranged parallel or substantiallyparallel to the material transport plane, the springs possessing thesame or substantially the same length.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The presentinvention relates to a new and improved apparatus for guiding andloading a weighting or pressure roll unilaterally supported, that is,supported in an overhung fashion, and vertically movable with respect tothe direction of material throughput of a pair of rolls of spinningmachines.

With such pairs of transport rolls, the weighting roll generating thepressure upon the fiber material is usually guided in a plane common toboth roll axes and movable vertically with regard to the direction ofmaterial throughput, so that the weighting roll adapts its positionalorientation to the momentary thickness of the loaded either exclusivelyby its inherent weight or through the action of additional loadingdevices, such as weights, elastic bodies, and so forth.

In particular, guiding and loading devices are already known to the artin which the supported end of a unilaterally or overhung supportedweighting or pressure load is hingedly connected with a guide arm at theplane common to both axes of the rolls. The guide arm ishingedlyconnected in turn to the machine frame and locked in its operatingposition so that the mobility of the weighting roll vertically withrespect to the direction of material throughput is insured. Servingasthe means for loading the weighting roll there can be used, forexample, springs acting upon the guide arm. Such type devices possessthe drawback that owing to the radial and axial play which isnecessarily present at both links or pivots, it is impossible to realizean exact guiding of the weighting roll parallel to the axis of the otherroll of the same pair, and furthermore, due to friction at the links orpivots, it is not possible to realize equal load distribution.Notwithstanding continuous maintenance, it is impossible to avoid wearat the pivotand guide elements, so that an exact guiding of theweighting roll is further impaired, and generally the life of the guideelements is shortened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Hence, from what has been stated above, itshould be apparent that this particular technology is still in need 'ofapparatus for guiding and loading a weighting roll at spinning machineswhich is not associated with the aforementioned drawbacks andlimitations of the prior art constructions. It is therefore a primaryobjective of the present invention to provide improved apparatus forsuch guiding and loading of a weighting roll which effectively andreliably fulfills the existing need in the art and is not associatedwith the aforementioned drawbacks and limitations of the prior artconstructions.

Another and more specific object of the present invention relates toimproved construction of apparatus for guiding and loading a weightingroll at a spinning machine in an accurate and reliable fashion, theapparatus being relatively simple in construction and design, requires aminimum of maintenance, and is not readily subject to breakdown.

Now, in order to implement these and still further objects of theinvention, which will become more readily apparent as the descriptionproceeds, the inventive apparatus for guiding and loading two rollsforming a nip throughpassing fiber material. The weighting roll is 2 forthe fiber material at a spinning machine and defining a materialtransport plane, and wherein at least one of the rolls is a weightingroll which is vertically movable with respect to the plane of materialtransport, contemplates the provision of a support for the I weightingroll which is directly or indirectly anchored at the machine framethrough the agency of two rigidly clamped flat springs arranged inparallelism or substantial parallelism with respect to one another andwith regard to the material transport plane, these flat springs havingthe same or substantially the same length.- The flat or plate springscan be anchored at the side facing the machine frame in a holderdetachably and adjustably mounted at the machine frame. The flat springsare arranged to be displaced through a distance in a weighting planeextending through the axes of the two rolls and to load the weightingroll by a restoring force due to their elastic deformation acting in thedirection of the weighting plane. It has also been found to beadvantageous to apply an additional external load force to the bearingsupport. The direction of the load force can be selected such that, withrespect to the axis of the weighting or pressure roll, it is inclinedtowards the outside and acts in the direction of the other roll upon thebearing support. It can also be advantageous to drive the roll from themachine frame through the agency of a flexible shaft extending throughbut clearing the bearing support, in other words, a flexible shaft whichextends with play through the bearing support.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be better understood andobjects otherthan those set forth above, will become apparent whenconsideration is given to the following detailed description thereof.Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side view, partly in section, of a firstembodiment of inventive apparatus for guiding and loading a roll;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the guidingand loading apparatus ofFIG. 1, taken substantially along the line II-II thereof;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side view of a modified embodiment of apparatusfor guiding and loading a roll embodying the teachings of thisinvention;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates details of an alternate embodiment fromthat shown in FIG. 3, and indicating the forces which are acting at sucharrangement;

FIG. 5 is a force diagram of the arrangement depicted in FIG. 4; and

- FIG. 6 is a plan view of a further embodiment of guidingand loadingapparatus for a weighting roll as contemplated by the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Describing now thedrawings, in FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a respective unilaterally oroverhung supby referring to FIG. 1, the roll 1 is axially supported atthe machine frame 3 and is driven through the agency of a suitable andtherefore not particularly illustrated means via its axle or shaftportion 4.

The other roll or roller 2 is provided with a hub 5 rotatably supportedat a bearing support 6. Axial guiding of roll 2 is insured on the onehand by a support member 7 of the bearing support 6 and, on the otherhand, by an adjusting or positioning ring member 8. In the bearingsupport 6, i.e., in its support member 7 there are arranged at rightangles to the weighting plane E and parallel to the plane F two flat orplate springs9 and 10 of equal length, these flat springs 9 and 10 beingrigidly mounted at the support member 7 at the same mutual spacing dfrom one another. The opposite ends of these flat springs 9 and 10 arerigidly anchored at the same mutual spacing d in the machine frame 3. Byvirtue of this arrangement and owing to its geometry and as shown inFIG. 1, there is realized precise parallel guiding if, for instance, thebearing support 6 is displaced through a distance e on the weightingplane E with respect to the roll 1, whereas loading of the roll 2 isrealized by the restoring force due to an elastic deformation of theblade springs 9 and 10 which are of course also displaced through thedistance e. Naturally, the magnitude of the loading force is dependentupon the length, thickness and width of the flat springs 9 and 10 andupon the displacement distance e. Moreover, the width b of the flatsprings 9 and 10 is advantageously a multiple of their thickness 0. Inthis manner there is achieved optimumeffectiveness of the guidingandloading apparatus for the roll 2, the bearing support 6 being movableentirely without friction in the weighting plane E while maintaining theparallelism of the roll axes, and on the other hand remains rigidlyguided transverse to the weighting or loading plane E, in other words,in the direction of the plane F. Consequently, there is excludeddisplacement of the nip line formed by the rolls 1, 2 in the plane F,and hence the apparatus qualifies as a very precise transporting devicefor the throughpassing fiber material. A further advantage is realizedin that ifa certain loading of the roller 2 is required, the mass of theroll 2 and its elements 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 can be kept small, hence theapparatus is particularly suitable for use in those applicationsrequiring high throughput speeds of the fiber material.

Considering now the showing of FIG. 3 there is illustrated therein amodified embodiment of inventive apparatus for guiding and loading aweighting roll 11, this arrangement resorting to the technique ofexternal load application as such is used, for instance, in draftingarrangements of spinning machines. It will be recognized that theweighting roll 11 is rotatably supported in an antifriction bearing 12at the bearing support 13. Bearing support 13 is provided with anenlarged support member 14 at which there are rigidly mounted two flator plate springs 15 and 16. Just as was the case for the firstembodiment considered above, here also the width of the flat springs 15and 16 is preferably much larger than their thickness. Both springs 15and 16 are of substantially the same length and their other ends arerigidly anchored so as to be substantially mutually parallel to oneanother in a holder 17 which, in turn, is detachably and adjustablymounted at the machine frame 18. Suitable fixing means 19 are employedfor attaching the holder 17 to the machine frame 18. As clearlyindicated by referring to FIG. 3 and in contrast to the arrangementdepicted in FIG. 1, here the rigidly mounted flat springs 15 and 16 intheir relaxed position merely function as a guide element in theweighting plane disposed at right angles to the transporting plane F.For these reasons and owing to thesmall occurring displacement distancesof the weighting roll 11 relative to the roll 20, and caused by thethroughpassing fiber material, it is possible for both the length andthe degree of parallelism of the flat springs 15 and 16 to vary withincertain limits without overly impairing the parallel guiding of thebearing support 13. Naturally, such deviations are to be consideredencompassed by the scope of the invention.

Furthermore, it should be recognized that holder 17 is provided with anextension 21 for guiding a loading pin 22 in a direction perpendicularto the transport plane F. An elastic loading or pressure element, forinstance a loading or pressure spring 23, is supported at this loadingpin 22. Now a disk 24 adjustably mounted at the loading pin 22 permitsvarying the load acting at the support member 14 or the bearing support13 respectively. This loading force P, generated by the loading spring23, and in contrast to the arrangement depicted in FIG. 1, constitutesan external loading force. The loading force P generates a reactionforce P from the roll 20 which equalizes the loading force P, i.e., P PThe moment produced by the forces P and P is compensated by acounter-moment generated by the flat springs 15 and 16, wherein flatspring 15 is subjected to a tensile force K and flat spring 16 issubjected to a compression force K These forces K and K of course are ofthe same magnitude.

As also best seen by referring to FIG. 3, the weighting roll 11, itsguiding elements 13, 14, 15 and 16 and the loading elements 21, 22, 23and 24 together with their common holder 17 form a unit which can beattached to or detached from the machine frame 18. The mounting work andthe possible exchange of such apparatus is thus considerably simplifiedand the time required correspondingly shortened.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates in detail a variant embodiment from theone depicted in FIG. 3. In order to preserve clarity in illustration,there have only been depicted in such figure the external forces actingat the weighting plane upon the bearing support 25 and upon the fiatsprings 26 and 27 rigidly clamped thereat, and which forces according tothe laws of physics must form an equilibrium system.

Considering FIG. 4 more closely, it is to be recognized that referencecharacter P represents an external loading force which is applied in adirection which is not vertical or perpendicular to the roll axis,whereas reference character P represents the force generated by theweighting roll, not here particularly shown, and acting in the plane ofsymmetry of such weighting roll. The straight line C connects the pointsof intersection of the pairs of forces P /K and F' /K Now if thedirection of the loading force P starting from the straight line C asthe boundary limit, is located in the sector B, then both flat springs26 and 27 are subjected to tension by virtue of the action of the forcesK and K; respectively, the magnitude of such tensile force beingindicated in the force diagram of FIG. 5. If the external loading forceP is permitted to act at a greater inclination upon the bearing support25, as viewed from the machine frame towards the outside, for instanceas indicated by the direction of the force P, represented with brokenlines, then the action of such external loading force upon the bearingsupport causes both flat springs 26 and 27 to be subjected to tensileforces of the same magnitude, i.e., K. as best seen by referring to FIG.5. If, however, the direction of the loading force, starting from thestraight line C, is located at the sector A, then, the flat spring 27 isstill subjected to a compressive force.

Hence-as should be apparent when using a given geometrical arrangementof the guidingand loading apparatus, it is possible to vary within widelimits the type and magnitude of the load exerted upon the flat spring27. Of course, it is preferable to select condictions under which theflat spring 27 is also subjected to a tensile force analogous to theflat spring 26. Consequently, it is possible to design the flat springso as to have a small thickness (small mass) without the danger ofbuckling during operation of the apparatus.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in plan view in FIG. 6and is in the form of an impregnation apparatus for textile fibersconstituting the subject matter of my copending, commonly assigned,United States application Ser. No. -1 87,966, filed Dec. 10, 1971,entitled Apparatus for Impregnating Textile Fibers, and to whichreference may be readily had. Of course, the important features of theembodiment of FIG. 6 necessary for fully understanding the underlyingconcepts of the invention will now be considered hereinafter.

Hence, a disk member 28, hereinafter conveniently referred to as amaster disk is mounted and axially guided at the machine frame throughthe agency of its shaft 29. The master disk 28 is likewise driven viathe shaft 29 by any suitable drive unit. Two cover plates 31 and 32retained at a predetermined mutual spacing from one another, are guidedby the master disk 28 in the disk plane and for radial, guidance restupon any suitable and therefore non-illustrated supports. A disk 33opposite the master disk 28 is axially guided in the disk plane by thecover plates 31 and 32, disk 33 being rotatably and axially movablysupported through the agency of the needle bearing 34 upon a bearingsupport 35. Two flat springs 37 and 38 of substantially the same lengthare rigidly clamped at the enlarged end part 36 of the bearing supportand the other ends of such flat springs are anchored in substantialparallelism withone another in a holder 39. This holder 39 is adjustablyand detachably connected to the machine frame 30. Thus the disk 33 isdisplaceably guided in the horizontal plane and perpendicular to thetransport plane F in accordance with a parallelogram guide system,whereas its axial position at the bearing support 35 is determined bythe cover plates 311 and 32. The external loading of the disk 33 isgenerated, for instance, by means of a spring 46) acting via a loadingpin 41 upon the end part 36 of the bearing support 35 and thus acts uponsuch bearing support.

in the case of impregnation apparatus for textile fibers, it has beenfound to be advantageous to positively drive both disks. For thispurpose, a shaft 42 is axially guided and supported in any suitablemanner in-the holder 39 and such shaft is driven via the drive elements43 and M by means of the shaft 29. Drive elements 43 and 44 may be, forinstance, gears. A conventional flexible shaft 45. is mounted in theshaft 42, flexible shaft 45 extending with play through a bore 46 of thebearing support 35. A gear 47 is provided at the end of the flexibleshaft 45, as shown, and this gear 47 is axially shiftable and mesheswith a gear 48 provided at the hub 49 of the disk 33. Hence, the driveof the disk 33 adapts through the agency of the gears 47 and 48 to theaxial position of the disk 33 determined by the cover plates 31 and 32.a

The inventive guiding-and loading apparatus manifests itself by virtueof its extremely precise parallel guiding of the weighting roll withoutplay in the weighting plane, and in ,spite of the absence of playfunctions completely without friction. Hence, any type of wear isprecluded which might be caused by movement of the weighting roll inadapting its position to the thickness of the throughpassing fibermaterial. As a result, maintenance is not required, even over longperiods of use. Furthermore, the inventive apparatus also permitsmaintaining the mass of the moving components small, something which isparticularly suitable for high throughput speeds of the materialundergoing processing.

While there is shown and described present preferred embodiments of theinvention, it is to be distinctly understood'that the invention is notlimited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practicedwithin the scope of the following claims. Accordingly, What is claimedis:

1. An apparatus for guiding and loading at least one roll of a spinningmachine having a machine frame, comprising a pair of rolls forming a nipfor fiber material and defining a material transport plane, at least oneof said rolls of said pair of rolls defining a weighting roll verticallymovable with respect to the material transport plane, support means forunilaterally supporting said weighting roll, and guiding and loadingmeans for at least one roll including a pair of mutually spaced flatsprings each having opposed ends, said flat springs having neighboringends rigidly mounted to said support means and opposite neighboring endsrigidly connected with said machine frame for anchoring said supportmeans at said machine frame, said flat springs having deflectableportions between their opposite ends, said flat springs being arrangedat least with their ends substantially parallel to one another and tosaid material transport plane for parallelly guiding said support meanswith respect to the material transport plane, the deflectable portionsof said pair of flat springs possessing substantially the same length.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, further including holder meansadjustably and detachably connected with said machine frame foranchoring said flat springs at the machine frame.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim ll, wherein the flat springs arearranged to be displaced through a distance in a weighting planeextending through the axes of the two rolls and to load the weightingroll by a restoring force due to their elastic deformation acting in thedirection of said weighting plane.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, said guiding and loading meansfurther including means for generating an external loading force actingupon said support means of the weighting roll.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said generating means isarranged to generate said loading force so as to act with respect to theaxis of the weighting roll in a direction inclined towards the outsidein a direction towards the other roll and upon said support means ofsaid weighting roll.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said pair of flatsprings are arranged parallel to the material transport plane.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 1,- further including a holdersupported by said machine frame and fixing means adjustably anddetachably connecting said holder with said machine frame, said flatsprings having neighboring opposed ends rigidly mounted to said holder.

1. An apparatus for guiding and loading at least one roll of a spinningmachine having a machine frame, comprising a pair of rolls forming a nipfor fiber material and defining a material transport plane, at least oneof said rolls of said pair of rolls defining a weighting roll verticallymovable with respect to the material transport plane, support means forunilaterally supporting said weighting roll, and guiding and loadingmeans for at least one roll including a pair of mutually spaced flatsprings each having opposed ends, said flat springs having neighboringends rigidly mounted to said support means and opposite neighboring endsrigidly connected with said machine frame for anchoring said supportmeans at said machine frame, said flat springs having deflectableportions between their opposite ends, said flat springs being arrangedat least with their ends substantially parallel to one another and tosaid material transport plane for parallelly guiding said support meanswith respect to the material transport plane, the deflectable portionsof said pair of flat springs possessing substantially the same length.2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, further including holder meansadjustably and detachably connected with said machine frame foranchoring said flat springs at the machine frame.
 3. The apparatus asdefined in claim 1, wherein the flat springs are arranged to bedisplaced through a distance in a weighting plane extending through theaxes of the two rolls and to load the weighting roll by a restoringforce due to their elastic deformation acting in the direction of saidweighting plane.
 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, said guidingand loading means further including means for generating an externalloading force acting upon said support means of the weighting roll. 5.The apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said generating means isarranged to generate said loading force so as to act with respect to theaxis of the weighting roll in a direction inclined towards the outsidein a direction towards the other roll and upon said support means ofsaid weighting roll.
 6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, furtherincluding a flexible shaft for driving said movable weighting roll, saidsupport means for said weighting roll comprising a bearing support, saidflexible shaft extending from the machine frame with clearance throughsaid bearing support.
 7. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, whereinsaid flexible shaft is provided with an axially movable gear, a furthergear provided for said weighting roll, said axially movable gear meshingwith said further gear.
 8. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid pair of flat springs are arranged parallel to the materialtransport plane.
 9. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, furtherincluding a holder supported by said machine frame and fixing meansadjustably and detachably connecting said holder with said machineframe, said flat springs having neighboring opposed ends rigidly mountedto said holder.